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Sen. Ted Cruz had to push through 14 minutes of handshakes, hugs and fawning fans to address a crowd of more than 1,000 people in Arlington on Tuesday. (Published Tuesday, Oct 22, 2013)

Updated at 11:09 PM CST on Tuesday, Oct 22, 2013

Sen. Ted Cruz may have upset Democrats and some Republicans in Washington, D.C., but he got a hero's welcome at an Arlington rally on Tuesday.

Cruz had to push through 14 minutes of handshakes, hugs and fawning fans to address a crowd of more than 1,000 people.

"Having spent the last month in Washington, it's good to be back in America," he said.

On stage, Cruz followed the familiar track of calling out the president and even fellow Republicans over the Affordable Care Act.

He also urged the crowd to stay involved in the democratic process.

Folks in the crowd got what they wanted when they heard Cruz say he's not finished fighting.

"I want to hear that he isn't getting discouraged," said Barbara Thomsen, of Fort Worth. "I heard him last year, and I was so inspired because he genuinely had the dynamic approach we're looking for. We haven't had anyone that's this promising since Ross Perot."

"The biggest part of what Ted is doing is that he's doing exactly what he said he would do," said Tracy McMahan, of Longview.

She said I as part of a core group of Cruz supporters who joined his campaign when he was a little-known lawyer from Houston.

"'Hold me accountable.' You don't have to because he's doing everything he said he'd do," she said.

There were several "2016" chants coming from the crowd.

In a brief meeting with the media after the event, Cruz confirmed with NBC 5 that he is traveling to Des Moines, Iowa, this weekend.

Iowa is the first state to hold an election contest in the presidential cycle. But when asked to comment on the "Cruz 2016" talk, the senator laughed.

"I am happy to travel anywhere in the country where we can get a sizable number of people together and work to get them energized and involved and impact the national debate," Cruz said.